Chapter 51: Assembling the boats

Chapter 51: Assembling the boats

Translated by me, edited by Kai.

“Stop, stop, stop. I trust you on the details, so just give me a price.” Jiang Hai blurted out to stop Dalton from continuing. The majority of the stuff that was just said was clearly not understood by Jiang Hai. It is much better to just name a price and be over with. With the connection with Edward in place, he probably won’t get overly ripped off by the price.

“The price depends on the materials used for the boat, the type of engines, and so on. If I were to give the best in class parts, then the cheapest would be roughly $40,000 made out of concrete. If it is made with aluminum alloy, then it probably will cost around $60,000. If you were to use the super strong reinforced glass, then it will cost you roughly $120,000.” Hearing what Jiang Hai said, Dalton got to the point.

“Wait, what do we need reinforced glass for? With all that money, we can buy 2 aluminum alloy boats.” As soon as Dalton mentioned glass, Edward cut in with a sour mood. For someone like him, what they hate the most are stuff that is just for looks and have no obvious use.

“How is there no use? It’s pretty. And if you were to actually order this type of boat, I can guarantee that the bottom and middle layers will all be semi see through. This is one of our newest products. Just think about it, you can see the surrounding ocean underneath you as you are lying down inside the cabins. Also, this type of glass is semi transparent, so you can see outside, but no one from the outside can see in. This glass’s defensive properties is also much higher than aluminum alloy and it’s also anti corrosive. So a boat like this, with some minor changes, can act as a luxurious yacht. Except it’s much cheaper.” Dalton countered. He knows that Jiang Hai will listen to Edward’s opinions, but in the end he is still the one paying. So as long as he is happy with the product then it becomes easy to deal with.

As expected, as soon as Jiang Hai heard the word yacht, he became interested. Although inside he is still a nerd, but now that he is wealthy, he is also interested in the activities of the wealthy. These activities right now are not playing around with cars, rather it’s playing around with planes and yachts.

Previously, before he left, he heard stories where even small old yachts can easily fetch several million yuan in China. Of course the boats in questions are actually real yachts, not those sightseeing barges. In America, a luxurious yacht cost around a couple million on average. A good one cost somewhere between 1.5 million to 1.6 million, sometimes even a price tag of 2 million isn’t even out of the question. But to most wealthy individuals these are just toys to them.

Although Jiang Hai’s assets are currently rapidly dwindling, but he still has some ideas of getting a yacht to play with. But getting a yacht by itself kind of seems like a rip off, so modifying a fishing trawler into a yacht seems perfect to him.

Seeing the look in Jiang Hai’s eyes, Edward can only shake his head. Since Jiang Hai is still too young, he prefers luxury to practicality. If it was him, he would prefer the aluminum alloy ones. Compared to the concrete ones, this type is much better in all aspects and satisfies the 3 basic needs for most sea fishing vessels. One, they aren’t as heavy as the concrete ones. Two, they are much quicker. And finally, they are so much harder to flip over. As for reinforced glass, there is really no need; except for looking fancy and all. However, since Jiang Hai wants it like this, then he might as well as help get a deal for him.

“Then reinforced glass it is. Our boss is still the boss after all, so you can’t be lacking in toys to play with. Getting the two in one is the most economical option. But Dalton, I still need to say this. 1.2 million isn’t a small number. So you need to include everything in there. Including the 3 engines, depth sonar, all the bedrooms, washrooms and other rooms are all your responsibility. And the prices for our dinghies also needs to be cut.” Edward commented glumly to Dalton. But clearly, Dalton on other side appeared much happier.

“No problem. Sonar, satellite, computer, engines will all be the best available in the market. The boat itself will have 3 rooms and a living room. I’ll also make sure everything inside will be made of real leather. Beds and sofas will also all be the best. There will also be a central heating system, water and electricity lines will also be installed. As for the dinghies, I’ll just charge you the price of one for all three. How about it?” Dalton replied.

Upon hearing all of this, Edward did some rough calculations. According to what Dalton said, all so those stuff summed up to around $200,000. This pretty much means he gave them a huge deal. Thus he nodded to Jiang Hai and gave him the go ahead. Jiang Hai who was already interested saw the nodding Edward and breathed a sigh of relief. Everything afterwards became very straight forward since Jiang Hai paid everything up front. Although $1.2 million is a lot to most people, but to Jiang Hai it isn’t a lot; it’s still within his acceptance range (1).

The ship will be ready in roughly a month. For boats that are this big, they all require orders to be placed first, but the dinghies are much simpler since they can be built on the spot. In fact, Edward himself can also build these boats. He already has one at home, but Jiang Hai rejected the idea of him building them because they turn out to be just too ugly, almost like those ugly landing crafts. Here at the shipyard, it is also much simpler to build them. Especially with the help of the machines here.

Dinghies, formally known as small boats, are also a type of boat. Boats generally are determined by their sizes. The ones under 6 meters belong to the mini category. 6 to 11 meters are small. 12 to 20 meters are medium, and 20 meters plus are large. In actual fact, the boat that Jiang Hai ordered is a large boat. However, a fishing boat in the end is still a fishing boat; no matter how much you try to modify it to look like a yacht. Hence the not so high price.

As for the 3 other boats, they can really be considered as yachts. But they are also the cheapest of the bunch. According to Jiang Hai’s needs, 2 of them will be open deck boats while the other one will be a decked boat. Open deck boats are just like motorboats, except they are just bigger. Generally these boats have a passenger load of 4 to 8 people, but after the deal Dalton gave, Edward changed his mind of getting only 6 seaters and asked for all 8 seaters. There is also no need to worry about transportation since Jiang Hai’s F750 aren’t just for looks. These motorboats are generally great for sea fishing and patrols. The only down side to them is they don’t have a cabin so there is no way to live in it. But there is more than enough room for people to lie down and take a break.

Edward has been continuously explaining to Jiang Hai what each part of the boat can do, what it’s missing and so on. However he doesn’t understand much of these. In any case, Edward is a professional in this area so he can be reassured and just listen to all of his suggestions. After picking out an extraordinarily good looking model, Jiang Hai left all the installation and other stuff to Edward. After all, the installation process for these boats is a very annoying step. Not only do you need hard parts like the body of the boat, engines, and propellers, you also need a lot of electronics such as a radio set, pilot controls, control systems, suspension system, navigation and so on.

Compared to the open decked boats, the decked ones aren’t much better. Because these boats are known for their leveled decks. No matter if it’s the surrounding hand rails or the piloting seats, they are all built on top of the deck regardless of the use of the boat such as sunbathing or fishing. Even night activities are possible.

This boat is the same as the open decked boats, as they are all small boats. Measuring between 15 to 20 feet and able to seat 1 to 8 people. Compared to the open decked boats, this type is much more balanced, though it sacrifices some speed. However if used to entertain guests or to go fishing it is definitely a good choice.

Yet no matter how good of a choice, all this doesn’t concern Jiang Hai because he doesn’t understand any of this. Hence he left everything to Edward and ran off to visit nearby areas. Assembling the boats will take more of half a day, so he is ready to go for a tour of the surrounding areas.

As for Edward, he didn’t give Dalton any courtesy and asked for all the small boats to be made out of fiberglass. Since the big ship is already made out of it, then there is no need to hold back for the small ones. When the time comes, a layer of silver paint will definitely improve their looks. While Edward is busy with the boats.

Sadly, Jiang Hai really doesn’t know where to go in Boston. Although to most Americans, Boston is full of must see site because of it’s history, but to Jiang Hai, these things aren’t a single bit interesting. However there is a place that peaked Jiang Hai’s interest near by. The Charlestown Navy Yard and it’s destroyer. After arriving in front of the destroyer, Jiang Hai first took a long look at it before entering.

Right now it is already November, which means it is already winter in Boston with an ever decreasing temperature. However the cold here is different from the cold in Harbin because it is a lot more reserved here. In Harbin, the temperature in winter would be around -10°C during day time, but here in Boston, the coldest temperature happed during the middle of the night in January and was only around -5°C. And this temperature only stays this low for at most a of couple days.

You have to admit coastal cities can enjoy the sea breeze. Although the wind might be strong at times, it doesn’t feel bone chilling. As for Jiang Hai, who is used to the bone chilling weather in Harbin, the weather here is a piece of cake.

During early winter, the Boston Navy Yard is almost devoid of people. Ever since this place lost the ability to build ships not many people come and sight-see. Despite this place having produced a large amount of ships for the Navy to use during the second world war, the korean war, the vietnam war and so on, time is a merciless slaughtering knife. Without knowing it, this place has become a dead harbour and was abandoned by the Navy.

Due to there being no entrance fees, Jiang Hai didn’t waste any time and entered the USS Cassin Young museum. One of only four surviving Fletcher-class destroyers still afloat.

Notes

1. Kai: Why do I feel like if I added all his gains and took away his expenses, he would be in negative at the moment… or at least, 1.2 mill won’t be chump change
Tl: pretty sure he had 10ish million after the estate and the cows